Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes at your local Whole Foods Market? From my vantage point as a Store Team Leader there is never a dull moment, and my team is always working hard to bring our customers the best food and customer service experience possible. Here’s a recent day in my Whole life.

7:30am: I arrive at the store bright and early but am far from the first to clock in. Did you know that many of our team members are already hard at work at 5am? The first thing I do is walk around the store, check in with my team members, and see if any problems have arisen overnight. First issue of the day: the cold drink case is making a loud humming noise and leaking water. I poke around a bit and determine I’ll need a professional. I make a call – the technician will be in later today.

8:00am: We are open! I unlock the doors and let the customers in. As I continue to walk the floor and talk with team members I come across another obstacle for the morning – my Prepared Foods Team Leader, Jimmy, tells me he has a team member whose car won’t start. He won’t be able to make it to work, so we need to find someone to help out in his department. We make some calls and, fortunately, we find some help. Read the rest of this entry »

Celebrate, fall is here! Lovely fall, my favorite season, filled with orangey red leaves and clear, cold days, the perfect antidote to steamy, sweaty summer. I trade in flip flops for my beloved collection of knee-high boots and pull out my favorite sweaters. I turn off the eternal humming of the air conditioner and get my blankets out of storage. I buy hot cider instead of iced tea and start planning my Halloween costume. But most importantly, I eat.

Fall foods bring back a richness of flavor that is sometimes missing from the lightness that is demanded of delicious, refreshing summer dishes. Osso Bucco doesn’t taste quite right when you’re wearing shorts and sandals in 95° heat. With fall comes the return of so many favorite tastes, and customers are already requesting the top fall food favorites. Read the rest of this entry »

“Do you watch Rachael Ray?” a woman asked me, looking desperate. I replied that yes, I was familiar with her cooking. “Oh good!” she replied, “she has this thing that she calls ’stoup’ – do you have any idea how I would make that?” I certainly did. (Stoup, by the way, is a cross between a soup and a stew, and a term that has surely been trademarked by Ms. RR.)

The dropping of celebrity chef names as though they are old friends is becoming a regular occurrence and is always accompanied by the request for a particular recipe or ingredient. I drop names myself, mentioning Nigella Lawson as I hunt for her very British ingredients – I have yet to find smoked herring chips. I can only imagine that with the release of the new movie focusing on Julia Child, the resurgence of love for the late great Dame of Cooking will drive up demand for butcher’s string to truss up whole chickens.

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